Teen Linked to Lincoln-Way East School Shooting Threat Was Set Up: Cops

A Lincoln-Way East sophomore was investigated for threatening to go on a school shooting spree but the teen never made the threat and was set up by someone else, police said.

The FBI alerted the Will County Sheriff’s Department about the threat Tuesday evening. The threat had been made through a social media site, police said.

Sheriff’s deputies and school staff searched Lincoln-Way East but nothing was found, police said.

“Through their investigation the FBI was able to locate the possible offender, a 15 year old male, sophomore student at LW East,” police said in a statement Wednesday morning. “Will County Sheriff’s detectives and FBI personnel visited the residence last night and spoke with the juvenile and his parents, who fully cooperated and agreed to a search of their residence. No firearms or explosives were located.”

Local police and the FBI are still investigating the threat but believe it was a hoax.

“Investigators remain diligent in locating the IP address of the sender,” police said. “The Sheriff’s Office has assigned extra deputies to the school today at the request of school administrators. The school has notified parents of the incident via email.”